A WAC remembers to keep WACs unforgotten

Victoria Wukitsch of Allentown is an Army veteran whose experience in World War II will live for generations.

Wukitsch, 84, was recently interviewed on videotape in Arlington, Va., as part of the Women's Memorial Oral History Program, which is helping preserve America's military heritage by documenting women's service in all eras.

The program is run by the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation in partnership with the Library of Congress Veterans History Project.

"Mrs. Wukitsch was articulate and humble," said interviewer and program director Kate Scott. "It was clear to me that her military service was one of the most defining chapters in her life.

"She made a comment toward the end that really stuck with me. First, the military gave her confidence and a sense of self. And, with the exception of motherhood, she said it was the most rewarding and exciting time of her life."

Victoria Szulga, also known as Virginia or Ginny, worked in a sewing factory after graduating from Allentown High School in 1937. She joined the Women's Army Corps in 1943 and spent 18 months in the Pacific with a Signal Corps records section, keeping track of phones and other communication supplies in the field and warehouses.

At the New Guinea jungle camp where she worked, Sgt. Szulga met a supply sergeant named Daniel Wukitsch, who also happened to be from Allentown. After their unit transferred to Manila in the Philippines, Wukitsch proposed to her. They married after the war and had four children.

Wukitsch's daughter, Vicki Wukitsch, with whom she lives, persuaded her to participate in the oral history program and drove her to Arlington for the Aug. 18 interview, which resulted in an hourlong videotape.

"I like to talk about my service," Victoria Wukitsch said. "I had a very good three years in the Army."

WAC units started shipping out to the Southwest Pacific in May 1944, Scott said. Eventually 5,000 women served under Gen. Douglas MacArthur. "Victoria was one such woman to follow in the footsteps of the Army as it drove the Japanese from New Guinea," she added.

Wukitsch said she never feared for her life. Her only fright came during training at Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., when she had to walk through a gas chamber.

"We had gas masks," she says on the tape. "I was terrified that mine wasn't on right. I kept asking, "Is it on tight enough?' because I hate gas. The first time when we went in line, I sneaked out and went to the line that already had been [through] -- a couple of us did it -- because I was so scared. But the officers found that out, so we had to go [in the next group] through the gas chamber."

For the interview, Wukitsch brought memorabilia that Scott described as an "incredible collection of her own of military ephemera and photos." Historians are sorting the items for the archives.

Besides Vicki, Wukitsch's children are Joyce Hertzske of Whitehall Township, Diane Wukitsch of New York City and Dan Wukitsch Jr. of Allentown.